Acquiring Knowledge Without Memorization
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This person says: Your Eminence, the father, we bear witness to your love for it, and he asks: Is it possible to acquire knowledge without memorization? Because memorization takes up my time, and it also requires review. Is understanding and reading sufficient without memorization? I ask for guidance, and may Allah preserve you.
Answer:
Knowledge is sufficient; understanding the religion and learning is sufficient. But if memorization is facilitated, it is more complete. If it is not facilitated, one learns, understands, and fulfills what Allah has made obligatory upon him, and praise be to Allah. Even if he does not memorize the witr, as long as he memorizes the obligatory acts and the forbidden acts, and memorizes the knowledge that is obligatory upon him, praise be to Allah. But if it is facilitated for him to have, in addition to this, texts that he memorizes, that is an increase in knowledge.
This person says: Your Eminence, the father, we bear witness to your love for it, and he asks: Is it possible to acquire knowledge without memorization? Because memorization takes up my time, and it also requires review. Is understanding and reading sufficient without memorization? I ask for guidance, and may Allah preserve you.
Answer:
Knowledge is sufficient; understanding the religion and learning is sufficient. But if memorization is facilitated, it is more complete. If it is not facilitated, one learns, understands, and fulfills what Allah has made obligatory upon him, and praise be to Allah. Even if he does not memorize the witr, as long as he memorizes the obligatory acts and the forbidden acts, and memorizes the knowledge that is obligatory upon him, praise be to Allah. But if it is facilitated for him to have, in addition to this, texts that he memorizes, that is an increase in knowledge.
Source
فضل العلم وآدابه — islamhouse.com (56:17)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.